The DuGalle Diaries
by TheThroneLord
Summary: Admiral Gerard DuGalle was the United Earth Directorate's most illustrious Admiral. His invasion of the Korpulu Sector was characterized by early success, but culminated in his eventual defeat at the hands of the Queen of Blades. This is his story.Based on the POV of DuGalle and Stukov during the Brood War. Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft. Or Blizzard. Or anything
1. Prologue: War is coming

**Disclaimer: I dont own starcraft. Or blizzard. Or anything.**

The Korpulu Sector was quiet. This in itself was unusual; a recent war had left millions dead on all sides and massive destruction to worlds across the sector. But now the dust had settled, and an uneasy silence had fallen across the most bloodthirsty of battlegrounds.

Arcturus Mengsk sat upon his throne, staring out the massive windows of his palace and onto his beautiful Dominion. The sun was rising, bathing the streets in a golden light. Mengsk thoughtfully rolled a cigar between his fingers, and thought on all he had acomplished. The Dominion had filled the power vacuum left by the fall of the Confederacy of Man, and was now established as the dominant Terran force in the sector.

The transition had been completed with minimal bloodshed, and peace was felt for the first time in years by the Terrans of the Korpulu Sector. Smiling slightly to himself, Mengsk pulled out an elaborate lighter and puffed repeatly on his cigar. He could feel a tension in the air, like the calm before the storm. He was nearly certain this peace would not last. With the Korpulu Sector, it never did. War was coming.

On Char, the Second Overmind slept. It was currently dormant, but would soon awaken. It slumbered, dreaming dark dreams of fire and fury as the Zerg eradicated all else. As the winds of Char swept ash upon and around its massive body, voices seemed to whisper on the wind. Voices that spoke of victory, domination, and war. War was coming.

On Shakuras, Raszagal contemplated on the future. From the reports, it seemed their wayward brethren on Auir had been decimated. The remaining 30 % of the Khalai population would seek shelter here. Raszagal was in two minds about this. On one hand, the fleeing protoss would draw the Zerg Swarm to Shakuras. The Dark Templar's generations of peace would be over. On the other, if she denied shelter to her estranged brethren she was no better than the narrow-minded Conclave, who had exiled the Dark Templar long ago.

Raszagal sighed. In the end, there was only one possible course of action. She would allow the Khalai into Shakuras. She would also prepare her people for war after ceturies of peace. For war was coming.

On Tarsonis, Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, felt the same tension in the air. The Zerg, ever true to their nature , where the only species looking forward to the storm that was approaching. They lived to assimilate and exterminate, and war was the oppurtune time for both of the commandments of the Zerg to be furfilled. Kerrigan did not think much on the future. She was the future. All she needed to know was that her goals would be acheived throught war. For war was coming.

Amidst the depths of space, the final faction to stake their claim and their lives in the Korpulu Sector approached. The greatest armada man had ever assembled was warping through deep space. The mighty warships of the United Earth Directorate were dark and silent, their inhabitants frozen in cryogenic chambers by the millions. The souless machines continued onward, as they had for many years now. The men and women slept on, but even in their dreams they knew with more certainty than anyone else what was coming. War was coming.

The uncertain peace was ending. All sides amassed their forces to brave the coming storm. Amidst it all, generals and traitors, warriors and queens, vigilantes and dictators had begun to all come together to engage in the most glorious of undertakings: war.


	2. Chapter 1: Colonial Experimentation

Gerard DuGalle stood at the bridge of the Alexander. He looked out into the depths of space and contemplated. The great fleet of the United Earth Directorate hung in orbit over a distant Dominion colony. Far enough away from Korhal 4 that it's disappearance would not be noted.

Gerard looked off into space. He was here now. It had seemed only yesterday that he had left his wife Helena and entered the cryogenic chamber aboard the Alexander. He remembered that day. That day millions of people had gathered to see the launch. They had cheered for him, as he stepped into the shuttle. He was the most celebrated General of Earth. Millions of people had their hopes riding on him. He could not fail. He would do anything to ensure it succeeded. Anything.

"You're awake, Gerard,"

Gerard turned around, and saw a man of average height behind him. Dark haired and in his late forties, Alexei Stukov was a man still in excellent physical condition despite his age.

"How are you feeling, Vice Admiral?" Alexei was Gerard's oldest friend, but certain formality had to be observed. Grinning slightly at his friends's use of his title, Alexei responded in his thick russian accent.

"Don't ever change, Gerard."

Glancing at his watch, Gerard realized that in several minutes the rest of the crew would awake. He would need to do his opening speech. It was vital to ensure the moral of the men, and for them to understand what they would be facing here. Gerard had given speechs countless times in countless places before countless battles, but this was the first time he felt shreds of doubt in his mind as he prepared to speak.

Gerard paused, and composed himself. Self-doubt was never a good start to a mission, and this one would be his last, one way or another. He stepped in front of the microphone, and began to speak.

"Attention Defenders of the United Earth Directorate, this is Admiral DuGalle. You were all briefed before we left Earth, so you know that we have come here to conquer this sector in the name of Humanity."

Across the armada, the men and women of the United Earth Directorate awakened from their artificial slumber. They listened with respect and admiration to the Admiral as he continued his speech. He was the greatest military leader of Earth. He would not fail them.

"Should any of you have second thoughts about performing your assigned duties," Gerard continued, "be reminded that if we fail in our mission here, not one of us will be going home. We stand or fall together in this forsaken wasteland. Serve the Directorate. Serve Humanity. All other priorities are secondary to victory."

"So," Alexei began after Gerard had finished. "We are finally here. The famed Korpulu Sector, filled with monsters and gods, and we are to pacify them all."

"That is correct, Alexei," Gerard replied. "We will began with the rogue terran colonies. Once we dethrone and execute this 'Emperor' Mengsk we then can enslave the Zerg, and finally pacify all Protoss activity." Alexei caught a note of anger in the Admiral's voice.

"Which brings us to why we are here. I wish to field test the Zerg against this colony. I want to know what we are getting ourselves into."

"Gerard!" Alexei laughed. "Are you sure this is neccassary? We have seen the videos hundreds of times. Our dissection of the zerg has given us a unique understanding of their biology. This is the greatest force mankind has ever constructed."

"Alexei," Gerard snapped. "Dissecting a dead zerg in a lab is one thing, unleashing them on men is quite another." He locked his gaze onto that of the vice admiral. "Are you prepared to go all the way with this, old friend?"

The vice admiral paused, rolling a cigar between his fingers.

"Yes Gerard," he said finally. "I am prepared to go all the way."

"Good," replied the Admiral, satisfied. He turned to the massive plasma screen that dominated the bridge.

"Captain, order the fleet to stay in orbit. Bring the Aleksander down to the surface, and release the captured Zerg from their holding pens. I have to see this for myself."

"Yes sir!"

The mighty battlecruiser descended through the atmosphere. Gerard DuGalle felt his heart quicken in anticipation. Once this was done, there was no turning back. He and his men were all in it together, to live or to die. It was his job to ensure that most lived.

The colony was situated in the east side of the planet. The barren rock and harsh climate made it a hard place to survive for all but the toughest of veterans-and the zerg swarm. It was small and basic, the central town covered a mile of sqaure terrain. It looked so peaceful that for a moment Gerard regretted his descision to field test the zerg. But then he hardened his heart.

"Sir, we are in position. We await your command."

Gerard paused again. _Whatever it took_.

"Release the Zerg."

He had deliberatly chosen the ground dwelling zerg for this test, for it would allow him to view them unmolested from the bridge of the Aleksander.

He wanted to see how they thought, and how they fought. Despite Alexei's assertation that the Zerg were mindless beasts, Gerard did not believe it. Mindless beasts do not come close to conquering a sector filled with some of the most advanced races ever.

The dropships carrying the Zerg descended to the surface, while the Aleksander continued to hover at a thousand feet. The dropships opened, and the Zerg came pouring out.

He had chosen the Zergling and Hydralisk strains for this test, since they posed the greatest threat to his ground forces. As the hundreds of Zerg exited the shuttles, and began racing towards the colony, Gerard felt a chill creep over him. He had, of course, inspected the Zerg while they were imprisoned in the pens, but seeing them free and tearing across the landscape was a different thing entirely.

The Zerglings were the size of large hounds, but could tear through civilians in a matter of seconds with their teeth and claws. The Hydralisks were well over six feet tall, and combined a serpent tail with a powerful muscular upper body. They were some of the most lethal of the Zerg strains, as they fire six-inch spines that could tear through even the strongest metal.

In the colony, lights flashed as the alarm systems went crazy. Marines, in their suits of chipped metal, came running out and into a cleverly positioned system of trenchs. But they were too few.

Gerard inspected the tactics of the Zerg closely. The swifter and smaller Zerglings arrived first. Their tactics consisted of surrounding the target, and in general this worked well, but against the flamethrower-wielding Firebats, was very inaffective. Gerard made a note to remember that. It would prove useful.

The Hydralisks arrived after the first wave of Zerglings had been decimated. As they neared the trench grid, with the chatter of machine gun fire all around, the Hydralisks did something completely unexpected. They burrowed. The marines in the trenches would be panicking now, Gerard realized. There was nothing more disconcerting than realizing the enemy which had been there seconds before had vanished.

His pulse quickened as the Zerg did not appear. The men in the trenches were glancing fearfully around. Suddenly in a shower of earth and rock, they were there. The Hydralisks came bursting out of the trench walls. The unprepared men were ripped to shreds. Some tried to fight. Some ran. Then, just as it seemed they would be overun on the second wave, the defenders of the colony managed to hold.

The dead lay littered across the trenches, people who had died defending their home. The Captian spoke, jolting the Admiral out of his contemplation.

"Shall we release the rest of the Zerg, sir?"

Gerard took one last look at the colony.

"Yes." His voice then dropped low. "No-one must ever know what happened here."

He watched has the horde advanced. Too many to count. So many that it appeared the ground itself was moving. When before there had been hundreds, this was thousands.

"Captain, bring the Aleksander into orbit. We are done here."

Gerard took one last look as the Zerg descended on the colony. He looked away.

The Aleksander rose in the sky, and disapeared into the stars.


End file.
